Can opener



June 30, 1942. H. A. BERKMAN CAN OPENER Filed Juiy 11, 194;

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Patented June 3i), 1942 CAN OPENER Herbert A. Berkman, C hicago, Ill., assignor to Zim Manufacturing Company, a corporation ci? illinois Application July 1l, 1941, Serial No. 401,907

(ci. sti-13)' 7 ciaims.

The object of the present'invention is to produce a simple, novel, efficient, rugged and durable device which, while held in the hand, may be applied to a can and be operated to remove an end of the latter while supporting the can independently of any other support.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,

for a full understanding of my invention and cf l Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device as it appears in Fig. 1, including the can fragment; Fig. 4 is a side view of the cam block separated from the other parts; and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the feed roller unit, including the lever by which the unit is raised and lowered and the lever by means of which the roller proper is turned.

Referring to the drawing, I represents a short sturdy handle of a size and shape to be conveniently grippedA and securely held in the hand of a user. Attached to and projecting from one end of the handle is a metal head 2 comprising a web portion 3 and parallel flanges 4 and 5 projecting laterally therefrom. The planes of the web and flanges are parallel to the long axis of the handle, so that the head forms, in effect, a

trough-shaped extension of the handle. Within the trough of the head is secured a cam block which may take the form of a heavy plate as wide as the distance between the flanges 4 and 5, and bent along transverse lines to produce'a U-shaped section 6 and a large lip section 1 extending from one free longitudinal edge of the section B. The cam device is set into the trough of the head, with the lip portion I on the inner side and resting against the web portion of the trough. A bolt 8, extending through the part 'I and the web 3, secures the cam element to the head. The free side of the U-shaped part of the cam element may be interlocked with the head in any suitable manner as, for example, by inserting pins 9 into holes in the anges 4 and 5 and extending the pins into what may be termed the upper and lower edges of the part 6 near the free There is cut into-the cylindrical portion of the part 6 of the cam device aca'm slot Ill which is of more or less helical form and terminates at what may be termed the upper and inner end in a straight section II the center lin'e or plane of which is parallel to the axi's'of the'handl'e.

The flanges 4 and 5 are provided with large registeringl circular openings I2 whose centers are at' the axis of the curved portion of the part 6 of thecam device; these openings being smaller in diameter than the diameter of such curved portion of the cam device. A supporting'element for a feed roller extends at right angles to the anges d and 5 through the openings Iand has bearingsk therein that permit` it to move lengthwiseV and, if desired, about its axis', while being prevented from moving in any other direction. This feed roller unit preferably comprises a sturdy, thick-walled sleeve member long enough to projecta substantial distance both above and below theV head member, a shaft extending through and rotatableV in said sleeve member, a feed rolle-r at the lower end of the shaft, a handle on the upper end of the shaft for turning the same, and a handle or arm extending through the caml slot for causing the unit tomove bodily in the lengthwise direction as this handle vor arm is shifted along the slot; this unit being locked in what maybe termed its raised position, when the` latter handle or lever enters` the straight portion of the cam slot.

The feed roller unjit'may obviously take various specific forms, there being illustrated in the drawing one that has been found to bequite satisfactory. As best shownA in Fig. 5, the sleeve member of this feed roller unit is composed of a lower section I4 and an upper section I5; the lower section having a part of reduced external diameter I6 extending up through the-section I5 and united thereto at the top by screw threads I1. Surrounding the part I B is one end of an arm I8 which, in the assembled device, extends through the cam slot/as shown in theother figures. When the two parts It and I5 are screwed together, 'with the arm IB in place, the arm is rigidly clamped to the sleeve. Preferably there is placed between the under side of the arm IS and the main portion of the sleeve section I4 a thick washer I9. Extending through the sleeve assembly is a shaft 2li the main portion of which is Preferably very slightly longer than the length of the sleeve.v The shaft 2i! has at its end screw-threaded extensions 2l and22 of reduced diameter. The element 2| is screwed into a end of the free flange or side of the latter. 55 handleV or crank 24 lying aboveV the han# dle I, for the purpose of turning the shaft; this handle serving as a stop or shoulder to prevent the shaft from dropping down. Screwed upon the lower extension 22 is a suitable feed roller device 25 which, by engaging with the lower end of the sleeve prevents the shaft from being pulled upwardly through the sleeve. By making the main portion of the shaft 20 slightly longer than the sleeve, the handle 24 and the feed roller may be screwed tightly against the shoulders at the juncture of the main portion of the shaft and the screw-threaded extensions and thus prevent any clamping effect that would interfere with the free turning of the shaft.

The feed roller is illustrated as being composed of two parts, a thin washer-like part 26 knurled on the periphery and bearing against the shoulder at the juncture of the main portion of the shaft and the lower screw-threaded extension, together with a lower more or less cylindrical block 21 the upper part of which is somewhat larger in diameter than the part 25. Thus there is formed an upwardly-facing annular shoulder 28 just below the element 26. As best shown in Fig. 2, the rim B of a can A is adapted to rest on this shoulder and bear against the knurled periphery of the element 26. `Of course, when the elements 26 and 2`I are screwed on, the latter serves as a lock nut for the former.

The severing of the top of the can from the can body is effected by a suitable cutter carried by a plate or bracket 29 mounted on the rear vertical side or face of the web section 3 of the head. In the arrangement shown, this cutter is in the form of a wheel 30 rotatably mounted on the lower part of the plate or bracket in such a position that when the feed roller unit is up, as shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. l, the cutter extends down from a plane above the feed roller below and close to the shoulder 28 on the feed roller. Consequently, if, while the feed roller unit is in its lowered position, as indicated by the dotted line positions of the handle 24 and the feed roller proper in Fig. 1, the rim of a can is set upon the shoulder 28 and in contact with the knurled periphery of the member 26, the lifting of the feed roller unit results in pressing the can up against the cutter with sufficient force to cause the cutter to penetrate the can cover close to the cylindrical wall of the can, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. By the time that the can has been lifted to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the arm I 8 has entered the straight portion I I .at the upper end of the cam slot, thereby locking the feed roller unit and the can in their raised positions. Then, upon turning the handle or crank 24, the can wall is gripped between the frusto corneal body portion of the cutter and the knurled feeding element, and is positively driven so that the entire cover, or so much thereof as is desired, is severed from the can body.

In order that a good grip may be had on the can wall, it is desirable that the cutter be yieldingly pressed toward the axis of the feed roller unit. This may conveniently be accomplished by anchoring the plate 29 at the end remote from the cutter as, for example, by employing the bolt 8 to secure it, and yieldingly holding the other en-d of the plate against the head. In the arrangement shown, the yieldable fastening consists of a screw 3| passingloosely through the plate 29 and into the web portion 3 of the head; the head of the screw standing away from the which is positioned in the device. With this CII arrangement, the cutting is done midway between the two fingers and just opposite the point at which the bead or rim of the can rests on the shoulder 23. The can cannot tilt without rocking on the point of support on the shoulder 28 and, since the fingers 34 prevent upward tilting on either side of the cutter, the can will remain with its axis parallel with the axis of the feed roller unit. The lingers 34 also prevent the can from swinging in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, about the point of support on the shoulder 28, while the considerable length of the roller 2l, the lower part of which contacts with the side of the can, prevents swinging or rocking movement of the can in the clockwise direction. In other words, the only movements that the can may have while it is being opened are rotary movements about its own axis and, even after the cover has been completely cut out, adequate support for the can is maintained and it is caused to hang from the shoulder 28 on which its rim rests.

It will be seen that the construction illustrated provides a very long bearing for the feed roller shaft, so that no binding of the shaft, which would prevent easy turning thereof, can occur. Lateral thrusts are borne by the compound sleeve and not by the shaft, because the sleeve is supported in the spaced bearings in the two flanges of the head. The only forces to which the shaft of the feed roller unit is subjected are the slight tensile stresses set up in initially forcing the cutter through the can cover, and a Very small shearing force at the lower end of the sleeve I4 due to the fact that the spring 32 presses the can rim lightly against the knurled feeding element. After the device has been applied to a can, it cannot become accidentally disengaged because the arm I8 lies in a straight portion of the cam slot lying at right angles to the axis of the feed roller unit. No force in the direction of or parallel to that axis can have any effect on the arm or on the unit, and there are never any other forces created that would tend to swing the arm I8 in the direction to lower the feed roller and thus release the can.

It will thus be seen that I have produced an extremely simple construction and arrangement for opening a can by grasping it between the feed roller and a cutter and progressively severing the top as the can is rotated by the turning of the feed roller; said construction and arrangement being of such a character and so easily operated that the implement may conveniently be held in the hand of a user and need not be fastened to a wall or other rigid support. In other words, while the implement illustrated is intended for hand use, its utility depends mainly upon construction and characteristics that may advantageously be utilized in implements intended to be mounted on rigid supports. In designing an implement for mounting on a rigid support, the axis of the feed roller unit will ordinarily be vertical, as it will also be in the normal use of the particular device illustrated.

Therefore, while the word vertica is used, it is with the idea of describing not only a vertical axis in a rigidly supported implement, but also one which is at right angles to a handle that is to be held in the hand of a user to support the implement.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A can opener comprising a handle member, a long sleeve extending transversely through and slidable lengthwise in one end of said member, a shaft extending through and rotatable in said sleeve, an operating member for said shaft on one end thereof, a feed roller on the other end of the shaft, means to move said sleeve lengthwise in either direction and to lock it in the position in which the feed roller is nearest said handle member, and a cutter mounted on said handle member in a position to cooperate with said roller, when the roller is nearest the handle, to

open a can.

2. A can opener comprising a handle member, a long sleeve extending transversely through and slidable lengthwise in one end of said member, a, shaft extending through and rotatable in said sleeve, an operating member for said shaft on one end thereof, a feed roller on the other end of the shaft, a stationary element on said handle member beside said sleeve having therein a cam slot, an arm extending from said sleeve through said slot and caused to be shifted thereby when moved angularly about the axis of the sleeve so as to move said sleeve lengthwise in either direction and to lock it in the position in which the feed roller is nearest said handle member, and a cutter mounted on said handle member in a position to cooperate with said roller, when the roller is nearest the handle, to open a can.

3. A can opener comprising a handle adapted to be grasped in the hand of a user, a head on one end of the handle, a long sleeve member extending through said head at right angles to the axis of the handle and supported thereby for lengthwise sliding movements, a shaft extending through and rotatable in said sleeve, a feed roller on the lower end of the shaft, a member on the upper end of the shaft to turn the same, means to move said sleeve lengthwise in either direction between predetermined limits and to lock it when at one of said limits, and a cutter on said head in position to cooperate with the feed roller, when the sleeve is at the last named limit, to open the can upon turning said shaft.

4. A can opener comprising a supporting member, a cutter mounted on one side of said member, a long upright sleeve extending through and slidable in said member beside said cutter, means to raise and lower said sleeve and hold it in its raised position, a shaft rotatable in said sleeve, a handle on the upper end of said shaft to turn the same, and a feed roller on the lower end of the shaft to cooperatewith said cutter to grip a can and cause the cutter to penetrate the same when the sleeve is raised while a can is being held in a predetermined position with respect to thel cutter and feed roller.

5. A can opener comprising a supporting member, a cutter mounted on one side of said member, a long upright sleeve extending through and slidable in said member beside said cutter, means to raise and lower said sleeve and hold it in its raised position, a shaft rotatable in said sleeve, a handle on the upper end of said shaft to turn the same, and a feed roller on the lower end of the shaft, said feed roller having a disk-like element provided with a roughened periphery to engage the periphery of a can rim, an annular shoulder surrounding and just below said disklike element to engage with the under side of said rim and support the can.

6. A can opener Comprising a supporting member, a long upright sleeve extending through and slidable in said member, an arm connected to said sleeve so as to project laterally therefrom and be held against relative movement thereof, a cam member in the path of the arm to cause it to lift the sleeve when turned in one direction and lower it when turned in the opposite direction, a shaft extending through and rotatable in said sleeve, a handle on the upper end of the shaft for turning the same, a feed roller fixed to the lower end of the shaft, and a cutter on said supporting member in position to cooperate with said feed roller, when the sleeve is raised, to cut open a can the rim of which has been introduced between the feed roller and the cutter.

7. A can opener comprising a handle member having a trough-shaped extension, a long sleeve extending through and slidable lengthwise in the sides of the extension transversely of the axisv of the handle, a shaft extending through and rotatable in said sleeve, an operating member for said shaft on one end thereof, a feed roller on the other end of the shaft, a stationary element in the trough of said extension coaxial with said sleeve and having therein a cam slot, the slot being diagonal and terminating at the end nearest said operating member in a straight portion whose center line lies in a plane at right angles to the sleeve, an arm extending from said sleeve through said slot and caused to be shifted thereby when moved angularly about the axis of the sleeve so as to move said sleeve lengthwise in either direction and to lock it in the position in which the feed roller is nearest said handle member, and a cutter mounted on said handle member in a position to Cooperate with said roller, when the roller is nearest the handle, to open the can.

HERBERT A. BERKMAN. 

